The Role of Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms and Social

October 2018, Volume 6, Number 4

Research Paper: The Role of Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms and Social Isolation in Teenage Girls Towards the Use of Internet and Cyberspace Mahtab Esmaeilzadeh Azad1 , Mahdi Amini2* , Mozhgan Lotfi3 1. Department of Counseling, Faculty of Literature Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. 2. Department of Addiction, School of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health (Tehran Institute of Psychiatry), Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 3. Department of Mental Health, School of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health (Tehran Institute of Psychiatry), Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

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Citation: Esmaeilzadeh Azad, M., Amini, M., & Lotfi, M. (2018). The Role of Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms and Social Isolation in Teenage Girls Towards the Use of Internet and Cyberspace. Journal of Practice in Clinical Psychology, 6(4), 265-271. http://dx.doi.org/10.32598/jpcp.6.4.265 :

:http://dx.doi.org/10.32598/jpcp.6.4.265

Funding: See Page 270 Copyright: The Author(s) Article info: Received: 15 Mar 2018 Accepted: 23 Aug 2018 Available Online: 01 Oct 2018

Keywords: Internet addiction, Externalizing symptoms, Internalizing symptoms, Social isolation

ABSTRACT Objective: The current study was conducted to investigate the role of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and social isolation due to Internet addiction and cyberspace use among teenage girls in 2016-2017 year. Methods: The research method used in this study was cross-sectional. The study population included all girl students of the second grade public high schools of Tehran city during the academic year 2016-2017. Based on multi-stage cluster sampling, 300 girls were selected randomly. The tools used for data collection were Russell’s loneliness scale, Young’s Internet addiction test, and Achenbach’s self-report questionnaire. Finally, the collected data was analyzed using SPSS v.20 software using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and regression analysis. Results: The results showed that there is a positive and significant relationship of internalized syndrome (r=0.53), extraversion syndrome (r=0.57), and social isolation (r=0.54), with internet addiction. Regression test showed that seizure syndrome, thinking syndrome among internalized syndromes, obsessive compulsive syndrome, other problems, favorable conditions, outbreak law, problems of disorder among extraversion syndromes and social isolation had the most impact on the variability of Internet addiction. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that individuals with internalized and externalized symptoms and girls who are socially isolated tend to have more Internet and virtual space addiction.

* Corresponding Author: Mahdi Amini, PhD Address: Department of Addiction, School of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health (Tehran Institute of Psychiatry), Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Tel: + 98 (912) 9493724 E-mail: [email protected]

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Highlights ● Internalizing and externalizing symptoms and social isolation result in teenage girls’ excessive use of the Internet addiction and cyberspace. ● There is a positive and significant relationship between internalized syndrome, extraversion syndrome, and social isolation, with the Internet addiction. ● Based on our study results individuals with internalized and externalized symptoms and girls who are socially isolated tend to use more the Internet and virtual space.

Plain Language Summary The current study examined the effect of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and social isolation on the Internet addiction and cyberspace use among Iranian teenage girls. The research design was cross-sectional. All high school girl students of the second grade in public schools of Tehran City during the academic year 2016-2017 were study population. Based on multi-stage cluster sampling, 300 girls were selected randomly. The relevant data were collected by Russell's loneliness scale, Young's Internet addiction test, and Achenbach’s self-report questionnaire and were analyzed in SPSS V. 20 using Pearson and regression tests. The results showed a positive and significant relationship between internalized syndrome, extraversion syndrome, and social isolation, with the Internet addiction. Therefore, individuals with internalized and externalized symptoms and girls who are socially isolated tend to use more the Internet and virtual space.

A

1. Introduction

dolescence is considered as the transitional stage from childhood to adulthood, which comes with a wide range of changes in physical, psychological and social dimensions (Cheng & Cheng, 2015). It is one of the most critical periods in life that is subject to various factors such as family, peers, school and social networks in terms of growth and performance in various internal and interpersonal dimensions (Balakrishnan, 2015). Facilitation in the access to social networks and the Internet, and the necessity of access to the internet for managing daily routine, has led to the transformation of the present phenomenon into a vital part of people’s lives and has increased the number of the users (Dillon & Bushman, 2015). The growing complications of Internet addiction have led to the disruption of the order, and are topical to all behavioral addictions (Hamidian, 2000). This disorder is an interdisciplinary phenomenon which covers various medical, computer, sociological, law, ethical and psychological sciences; different dimensions of each if this phenomenon has been studied (Moidfar, Habbibpoor, & Ganji, 2008). Despite all the benefits of the Internet to today’s human, this modern communication technology is a double-edged sword that has many disadvantages and problems, especially for the younger generation. Adolescents tend to

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exploit this phenomenon under the influence of various internal, interpersonal and even environmental factors, social isolation and, internalized and internalized symptoms are its most important factors (Kubiszewski, Fontaine, Potard, & Auzoult, 2015). Externalizing problems are symptoms that are in conflict with other people and their expectations, and the extent of its harmful effects on others is more than that of the individual itself. The internalized symptoms cause more self-harm than harming others, their core being mood (affective) disorder (Lee, Zhou, Ly, Main, Tao, & Chen, 2014). Clinical studies suggest that internalizing symptoms have a significant impact on the use of cyberspace and social networks in children and adolescents (Satoorian, Haratian, Tahmassian, & Ahmadi, 2016). Yoo et al. (2004), Sheldon (2008), in separate studies, indicated that individuals with externalized and internalized symptoms are more likely to get inclined towards social networks and virtual communication spaces. Internet addiction is much higher among this group (Griffiths, Kuss, & Demetrovics, 2014). Social isolation is one of the other factors influencing an adolescent’s inclination towards cyberspace and social networks (Nourian Aghdam, Almardani Some’eh, & Kazemi, 2016). Social isolation is the lack of an individual’s interest in engaging in activities and social rela-

Esmaeilzadeh Azad, M., et al. (2018). Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms and Social Isolation in Teenage Girls Towards the Use of Internet and Cyberspace. JPCP, 6(4), 265-271.


tionships in the real environment, and it their tendency to remain in seclusion and loneliness (Kuss & Griffiths, 2017). It is one of the destructive consequences of using cyberspace and the most important cause of the inclination towards cyberspace use. Many researches have emphasized its relationship with teenagers and their inclination towards cyberspace and social networks (Choupani, Karimnejhad, & Farahbakhsh, 2017). Kamkar, Bagheri-zadeh Moqadam, & Manouchehri (2013), Morahan Martin and Schumacher (2000) also pointed out in their research that teenagers and the young Internet users were more intimately attached than those who did not use this tool, and the amount of social isolation and the distance from the family and the family environment was higher than others. Research shows that for every hour of using the Internet at home, half an hour of direct communication with family members is reduced, and this escape into an open and networked society leads them away from the community (Motamednejad, 2002). Growing volumes of research on Internet addiction suggests that this disorder is a psycho-social disorder, characterized by tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, emotional disturbances, and disruption of social relationships (Feriis, 2002). The aforementioned information has shown a high increase in adolescents’ inclination towards cyberspace and social networks, high increase in psychological and social harm caused by Internet addiction in this age group. This necessitates the identification of influential factors that attract adolescents to cyberspace, and to develop preventive, educational and therapeutic programs in this area. A review of literature highlighted that not much was known about the role of internalization and externalization syndromes and social isolation on Internet inclination and cybercrime in adolescent girls, so this research was aimed at removing the vacuum in this field. This research was conducted to define how comprehensive is the role of social isolation and internalization and externalization symptoms in the increased inclination of the teenage girls towards cyberspace. The results ob-

tained, to some extent, could be effective in formulating and implementing the mentioned programs.

2. Methods This study was cross-sectional. The study population consisted of girls from public high schools (second grade) of Tehran during the academic year 2016-2017. The sampling method used was randomized multistage cluster sampling. First of all, from the 22 districts of Tehran, the sixth district was selected randomly; then, from the schools of the sixth district, five girls school in the second grade were randomly selected, and from each school, 50 students responded to the research questionnaires. A total of 300 students participated in this study. Data was collected randomly. Along with the ethical considerations, the inclusion criteria were a girl who is a high school student, age range of 15 to 18 years, while exclusion criteria required a particular physical and mental condition, unwillingness in participation in this research. Participation was with the individual’s consent, and all of them responded to the questionnaires willingly. The confidentiality of information was assured. To this end, it was not mandatory to write the participant’s name; only age was enough. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS v.20 statistical software using descriptive and inferential statistics, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for data normalization, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, regression analysis and independent t-test. The instruments used in the current study for data collection are as following: UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Loneliness Scale which was compiled by Russell, Pilva, and Cortino (2000) containing 20 quadrants, 10 negative sentences, and 10 positive sentences and the answers were based on 4-point Likert scale as “1=never”, “2=rarely”, “3=sometimes”, and “4=often”. The reliability of this test was reported to be 89%. Shekarkan and Mirderikvand (2008) translated the scale and emphasized on its reli-

Table 1. Pearson correlation coefficient between internet addiction, social isolation, internalized and externalized symptoms

Variables

Internet Addiction

Social Isolation

Internalized Symptoms

Internet addiction

1

Social isolation

0.54**

1

Internalized symptoms

0.53**

0.68**

1

Externalized symptoms

0.58**

0.54**

0.57**

Externalized Symptoms

1

** P